Seeing your reaction to some other comments , my apologies (in my Spock/Star Trek-related comment below ) for not being aware enough that I was not merely commenting on a collection of words on a screen but rather, that I was responding to a living feeling person on the other end. You may have been seeking supportive reactions. I offered criticisms, and not enough empathy. My comment probably says much more about me than about than about you. It’s the nature of the internet: It brings us together, yes, but with potentially negative and even cruel consequences. We can get lost in the web, so appropriately named. On the internet, without the physical “touch”, the sight, the eyes, the vibrating voice & sound, the context, the feel, the look, the subtle reactions & emotions, the closeness of the other person we can all too easily be both mistaken and overly callous or dismissive. But beyond the internet, in real life, we do also need other people, real flesh & blood people, to be our mirrors - for us to be reflected in their eyes and minds, for better or worse, to be supported, or ignored, or sometimes even have our negative impulses warped & enabled by toxic mirrors around us. Mirrors can hurt, mirrors can mislead, mirrors can guide & support, and mirrors can foster a selfish conceit - but human mirrors are necessary to help counter our inner blind spots. They can be a vital way to know ourselves, and what’s more important than that, in the larger scheme of things? I myself am elderly, as you perhaps can tell by my dated references (i.e. Spock, Star Trek, and in this particular context, the Velvet Underground’s Nico singing her haunting “I’ll be your mirror” would be appropriate). Sartre, a French philosopher (of the 60’s, what else?) once famously remarked that “Hell is other people”. Hmmm, I wonder what his heaven was like? In any case that makes me glad(er) that I’m an atheist :-) (Of course, Sartre lived in Europe thru the horrors of World War Two, which left their deep scars no doubt). But being elderly myself, and because I am a survivor who has lost so many friends and family over the years, I now seek & value people much more - their touch, their interaction, their presence, their love & support - whether physical or mental. I connect with and appreciate the quoted words of Spock much more. For when I was young, people were seemingly disposable, a never-ending stream of faces and loves and hates, and I sought what I called privacy in the rushing race all around me. But now people are precious to me, and helping others (even -or especially- in the midst of personal physical or mental pain) is the best medicine for what ails us. Some lessons we learn late, but better than not at all. I wish you well in your own journey, guided by your own stars. However, may they not be the only companion that touch you…

You're not. I once met a girl who hated being hugged and it really bugged her when people just assumed she would like it. It bothered her so much that when she talks about it, she starts crying. I think the best you can do is calmly explain to whoever wants to hug you that it's not that you don't like them, you just don't enjoy being hugged.

You would no doubt protest , but your own words and phrasing (i.e. " I can't be alone") seem to be a suppressed inner cry that yearns to touch, to connect, to love, and to be loved and not to be lonely. Somehow I am reminded of the words of Leonard Nimoy as Dr. Spock, in an old Star Trek episode called "Is there in truth no beauty?", where an alien speaks thru him while inhabiting his body for a brief period: “How compact your bodies are, and what a variety of senses you have. This thing you call language though… most remarkable… and you depend on it for so very much, but are any one of you really its master… But most of all… the aloneness… you are so alone… you live out your lives in this shell of flesh, self-contained… separate… how lonely you are… how terribly lonely…” – Mr. Spock Do you perhaps feel so superior -or so inferior- or so hurt - that you try to shun close human contact, to be human? You are right- you can't be alone.

By the way my reference to Star Trek & loneliness is not meant as some arrogant lecture or as an attempt to psychoanalyze you, or to impose my standards on you, your life, or your way of thinking & feeling . They're simply a few thoughts on the all-too-human condition from my perspective...

Well everybody is different. Thank God! I personally don't like people at work or someone I just met hugging me.family friends is fine.whats wrong with that NOTHING! Watch out though because now days if you don't hug your boss Or express your Dislike to hugs at work they may be offended and fire you!

I hate being touched but only because I hurt so bad. Touching me on the arm is like a punch on the nose. I know this is not why you don't like being touched. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to be touched just tell people not to touch you. I don't think you are the only one

Different people have different comfort levels with touch and physical intimacy with others. I wonder, though, whether you don't like being touched, or whether you feel that people too quickly invade your personal space. In other words, are you comfortable being hugged by or holding hands with or receiving a touch on your back from people you feel emotionally close with?

I, too, don't like being touched, especially by people I don't know very well. I also find it extremely difficult to touch other people - I could not be a nurse because I'd have to touch people. Oddly, I'm the opposite with my husband and children - with them, touching and being touched is okay. I care deeply for other people, but I can't demonstrate it physically.

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